The Great Santini 1979

Starring: Robert Duvall

A crack fighter pilot has difficulty adjusting to peacetime domestic life.

A brilliantly acted and quite moving film. Duvall was so believable, but big shout-outs to Michael O'Keefe who played his son and the guy who played Toomer. Superbly filmed. this hit the spot on so many levels.       8/10

Drifters 1929

A documentary of the North sea fishing fleet

Extremely early, silent movie. Fascinating in its own way although the music go a little repetitive.     4/10

Isle of forgotten sins 1943

Starring: John Carradine

In the south seas, villains congregate in search of sunken treasure.

Such a poor print, this seemed older than 1943. Difficult to get excited about, the underwater scenes to heavenly, choral music amused me and a scene where a lady sang on a bank whilst someone did some weird type of synchronised swimmimng verged on the hiaarious. Quite liked the ending though.      3/10

Steel Magnolias 1989

Starring: Sally Field

A group of women, who gather in a small-town beauty parlour, face up to life's vicissitudes

After about 30 mins, I wondered where this movie was going, but it progresses beautifully. It made me laugh, it damn well nearly made me cry. So many big names and yet each and every one of them was brilliant and it would be wrong to pick a single name out. Terrific movie     8/10

Gidget 1959

Starring: Sandra Dee

A 16 year old girl falls for a surfer; her parents disapprove until he turns out to be the son of their best friend.

Late 1950's rom-com set around the local surfing community. Delightful charm oozes out of Sandra Dee and you can't help but watch this with a smile on your face. Makes you long for warm days by the beach, I thoroughly enjoyed it.     8/10

Against all flags 1952

Starring: Errol Flynn

A daring British seaman routs Spanish ships at the request of the King.

A rather splendid adventure with Errol Flynn at his charming, swash-buckling best. Maureen O'Hra gives sprightly support and Anthony Quinn as the villain is also particularly good. Pacy, amusing with some nice choreographed action, there was really nothing to dislike.    9/10

Valley of eagles 1951

Starring: Jack Warner

A Swedish scientist chases into Lapland after his wife and her lover who have stolen an important formula.

A movie set in Sweden where everyone speaks perfect English! What starts out as a tense little thriller, transforms into a kind of chase movie across frozen wastelands with herds of reindeer falling over cliffs, packs of marauding wolves which are eventually taken out by eagles and the inevitible avalanche. It was a bit different and I rather enjoyed it.      7/10

Jigsaw 1949

Starring: Franchot Tone

An assistant District attorney uncovers a mob stirring up racial hatred.

Formula mob drama with a couple of big name cameos. Some of the scenes were so dark and badly lit that you couldn't actually see what was going on. A movie that brought nothing original to the table, but at least kept itself to a watchable length.     3/10

Dawn of the dead 1979

Starring: David Emge

America is filled by legions of carnivorous zombies.

What a load of old cobblers! At least 2 hours too long. What is the fascination with zombies? This was boring, repetetive with truely awful acting. The only good thing is that I'll never have to sit through this again.   1/10

No mercy 1986

Starring: Richard Gere

Policemen pretend to be hit men in an attempt to inflitrate a murder-by-contract organization.

Hard-hitting, downbeat drama with plenty of gunfire, explosions and chases for the boys. Richard Gere's character showed behaviour so unbelievable for a copy that it was difficult to feel any empathyand this lack of realism rather de-valued the whole movie. Kam Basinger on the other hand gave a troubled, vunerable performance which was surprisingly well portrayed.        5/10

Bullet scars 1942

Starring: Regis Toomey

A doctor is kidnapped to patch up a bullet-scarred gunman.

Short movie that came in at just under an hour. Sure, the plot is hardly original, but this rolls along at a cracking pace, there is some attempt at humour, some very watchable action and an exciting climax. A little gem that I really enjoyed.   9/10

The Paradine case 1947

Starring: Gregory Peck

A barrister falls in love with his client, who is suspected of murder.

Hitchcock movie with interesting camera angles and brilliant lighting. The plot had interest but the whole thing was a bit stodgy and because it was so character driven, it became hard to retain concentration.      4/10

The Big man 1990

Starring: Liam Neeson

An unemployed miner becomes a bare-knuckle fighter.

Gritty drama set in Scotland. Neeson is utterly believable, Billy Connolly is weesle like, amusing and a much better actor than he is often given credit for. Hugh Grant delivers a very passable Scottish accent and Joanne Whalley-Kilmer has eyes that could seduce you from 500 metres. Not really Sunday morning viewing but utterly compelling.    7/10

Tanks a million 1941

Starring: William Tracy

An army recruit has a freak memory which keeps him out of trouble

At only 50 minutes, this was a little gem. An army recrit becomes a sergent within 5 minutes and then helps a colonel look good. Full of little moments that director Hal Roach does so well, I actually wished this movie would keep going.       8/10

The Horse soldiers 1959

Starring: John Wayne

In 1863 a Union cavalry officer is sent three hundred miles into Confederate territory to demolish a railroad junction.

Lengthy civil war drama, but production is excellent and Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers all give terrific performances and give their characters multiple dimensions. I'm not the greatest fan of Wayne's movies but this was right up there amongst his best for me.     7/10

Death from a distance 1936

Starring: Russell Hopton

A murderer is trapped in a planetarium.

Very old and not the greatest print of a movie. But it wasn't at all bad and I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie set in a planetarium before. The sort of movie that I'm grateful just to get the chance to see.   5/10

The Hills of home 1948

Starring: Edmund Gwenn

A doctor returns to his Scottish village to practise medicine, and brings his failthful collie.

Part of the Lassie series, this is all about people flling sick, doctors and dogs afraid of water. Not the most thrilling of the Lassie films, but pleasingly gentle and the Scottish accents are very easy on the ear.    5/10

National Lampoon's European vacation 1985

Starring: Chevy Chase

An American family determines to see Europe

This just never works. I guess it was supposed to be one hilarious romp going from country to country. The only time I really laughed was during the Bavarian folk dance in Germany. Chevy Chase is so often hilarious and has great comic timing but even he seemed off key. A real shame although Eric Idle was priceless!   4/10

Sexton Blake and the hooded terror 1938

Starring: George Curzon

A millionaire is unmasked as the head of a criminal gang.

Yet another top detective who lives in Baker Street. Reasonable enough, it bowls along at a healthy ppace. I liked Blake's side-kicks who added just the correct amount of light heartedness.     5/10

Darling 1965

Starring: Julie Christie


An ambitious young woman deserts her journalist mentor for a company director, an effeminate photographer and an Italian prince.

More interesting than entertaining. Julie Christie is very good as the girl-about-town/model and Dirk Bogarde is always good value. Probably cutting edge in its day and very 60's. Utterly un-PC with talk of negros and how homosexuality is rife. The fact that at one poiny Julie Christie's character is referred to as 'Princess Diana' is more poignant than the film makers would ever know.                   4/10